Aroma: “Ethanol up in the nose. Rich caramel behind that. Maybe a bit of umami? Hard to get much chocolate, coffee, or roast because the booze is pretty intense.”

Flavor: “Rich dark fruit sweetness. This has great complexity with dark cherries, toffee, and chocolate, but it is missing any stout roast character. Boozy as hell. The finish isn’t particularly bitter, but the alcoholic heat leaves that impression. Still quite sweet overall.”

Overall: “Massive and boozy. Can’t really say this is a stout, but it’s made and exhibits great barrel character on a rich and complex base beer. Toes the line to being cloying, but that’s cut by the heat on the finish.”